On 28 April 2026, DETE exhausted the General Employment Permit quota for hospitality manager roles. The 292 permits allocated to those positions are gone for 2026, and applications submitted after that date are being refused.
If you have been planning to hire an overseas Hotel Manager, Restaurant Manager, or Catering/Bar Manager, that route is closed until DETE opens a new quota. There is no announced timeline for reopening.
Here is what is still open — and what to do if you still need hospitality staff.
CA Recruitment handles overseas recruitment and employment permit applications for Irish hospitality employers. If you need staff for roles that are still permit-eligible, talk to us before you start the process.
Which Roles Are Now Off the Table
The closed quota covered the following GEP roles:
- Catering Manager / Bar Manager
- Hotel and Accommodation Manager
- Restaurant Manager
- Publican
These roles were granted a temporary GEP quota exemption. That quota of 292 permits has been filled. DETE has confirmed that no new applications for these roles should be submitted until a new quota is opened. Any applications submitted after 28 April 2026 for these categories will be refused.
DETE has not announced a timeline for reopening the quota.
What Is Still Permit-Eligible in Hospitality
The quota closure affects manager-level roles only. A significant number of hospitality occupations remain permit-eligible through the GEP:
Chefs
Chef roles remain permit-eligible. Ireland has a chronic shortage of qualified chefs, and the hospitality manager quota closure does not affect the chef permit route. If your immediate requirement is kitchen capacity, chef placements remain a viable route.
DETE allows the following chef grades under the General Employment Permit:
- Executive Chef — minimum 5 years relevant experience (non-fast food)
- Head Chef — minimum 5 years relevant experience (non-fast food)
- Sous Chef — minimum 5 years relevant experience (non-fast food)
- Chef de Partie — minimum 2 years relevant experience (non-fast food)
- Commis Chef — minimum 2 years relevant experience (non-fast food)
Experience in fast-food operations does not count towards the minimum requirements. All grades must meet the GEP minimum annual salary of €36,605.
Important: most other hospitality roles are not permit-eligible
Bar staff, waiters, kitchen porters, accommodation staff, hotel receptionists, and housekeeping staff are all on DETE's Ineligible Occupations List. They cannot be sponsored for a General Employment Permit. If your staffing requirement is for front-of-house or housekeeping roles, the permit route is not available for those positions.
The standard GEP minimum salary is €36,605 per year. Many hospitality roles will not meet this threshold at standard industry rates. Check the annual salary against the current minimum before starting the Labour Market Needs Test — an application for a role paying below threshold will be refused regardless of quota status.
What to Do If Your Requirement Is for a Manager-Level Role
If the closed roles are exactly what you need, your practical options are:
- Wait for DETE to open a new quota. This has happened before — the dairy farm assistant quota was exhausted in late 2025 and a new allocation opened in December 2025. It can happen mid-year, but there is no guaranteed timeline.
- Cover the role domestically or with EEA hires while the quota is closed.
- Assess whether a non-manager hire meets the operational need. If the business requires kitchen output rather than a management title, a qualified chef hire is immediately available via the permit route.
The Permit Process for Eligible Roles
The standard GEP process applies to all permit-eligible hospitality roles:
Labour Market Needs Test: Advertise on DSP Employment Services (Jobs Ireland), EURES, and at least one additional online platform for the required advertising period. Demonstrate that no suitable EEA candidates were available for the role.
50/50 workforce check: At least 50% of your total workforce must be EEA nationals at the time of submitting the application. See our 50/50 rule guide for the detail.
GEP application to DETE: The employer submits the application through the DETE online portal. The application fee is €1,000 for a permit of up to 24 months. As of May 2026, DETE is processing applications received in early March — a current backlog of roughly nine to ten weeks for new applications.
From starting the Labour Market Needs Test to a worker arriving on site, allow five to six months.
Auditing Existing Applications
If you have a pending GEP application for any of the closed manager roles, check its status through the DETE online portal. Applications submitted before 28 April 2026 that were already in the queue may have been processed before the quota closed — verify directly with DETE. Applications submitted after 28 April for closed-quota roles will be refused.
If you spent money on a Labour Market Needs Test for a role that is now in a closed quota, contact DETE to clarify the position on your application before submitting.
The hospitality sector in Ireland is still actively hiring at non-manager level. The National Minimum Wage increased to €14.15 per hour in January 2026, which has pushed payroll costs up across the sector. Overseas recruitment — for the roles where it is still available — is one of the few practical routes to managing staffing costs without cutting service capacity.
The operators who act now, while the quota is open for eligible roles, are in a better position than those waiting to see what happens next.
Need overseas hospitality staff? Let's find out what's possible.
CA Recruitment places hospitality workers with Irish employers and manages the full GEP process. We know which roles are currently eligible, what salary thresholds apply, and how to run the Labour Market Needs Test correctly.